Lemon Bar Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Shortbread base:
3/4 C. unsalted butter
2 C. flour
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Cupcakes:
1 box lemon cake mix
1/3 C. veg. oil
1 1/3 C. water
3 eggs
1 jar lemon curd

Lemon cream cheese frosting:
4 oz. butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon rind, grated
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 F
Shortbread: Cut butter into 1/2 inch pieces. In food processor process all shortbread ingredients until mixture forms small lumps. Spoon a heaping spoon full of shortbread into cupcake paper liners, then pat down firmly with fingers.

Cupcakes: Make cake according to box. Spoon into cupcake cups, fill almost to the top. Place 1 tbsp. lemon curd on top of each. Bake according to the box. (I went 19ish mins)

Frosting: Beat all frosting ingredients until smooth. (I needed slightly more than the 2 tbsp of lemon juice to make it a better consistency).

Notes: this made 29 cupcakes for me, but the frosting only frosted 25. Also, this was way more shortbread than I needed. I used more than half of it, but definitely not all of it. The idea is the shortbread base forms a crust on the bottom, the lemon curd sinks and becomes a lemony goo inside the cupcake, on top of the crust, so don't be afraid to put that whole tbsp in there. I went slightly under and I wish I had done more. They turned out delicious though! You could also put some yellow food coloring in the frosting to make it prettier. Happy baking!